Are there elephants in Ghana?

We just got back from Mole National Park (pronounced mole-a, almost a Spanish pronunciation. It was the equivalent of driving to California from Utah only with no freeway and part of the time on dirt roads and another part Ghana  pot holes. Mole has the only elephants in the wild in Ghana so far as we know. We rode there with the Wades and back with the Watsons. It was a trip worth doing regardless of the travel issues. Mole is in the northern portion of Ghana and starts to approach the Sahara desert.

 This time of year the Harmattan winds occur bringing sand and dirt from the Sahara to west Africa. Our pictures show a dull sky rather than the sun we are used to in Accra.

 One of the fun features of the trip was that as we gained a little altitude and moved closer to the Sahara the topography changed. Our pictures show the dry brush scattered among a few trees rather than the dense jungle we are used to here.

The villages near to Mole were largely round and constructed of sticks and mud with thatched roofs. Many of them were built near to their neighbors and had mud walls between the houses. The road side stands selling fruit and vegetables which we are used to here were gone as well.

The trip to the park was memorable too. We stayed at the Mole motel which was on a hill overlooking a portion of the park which included a large pond of water. Within 10 minutes of arriving I watched a large elephant walk from the right to the left of an open space beyond the watering hole. That afternoon we went on a walk through the forest with a guide, named Robert, who carried a 30-06 rifle. We saw elephant foot prints from the prior rainy season and some very fresh elephant foot prints in the dust. 

We also saw about 20 Kob antelope of varying ages and sizes. We had dinner at the motel then got up so we could leave by 7:00 the following morning to go on a safari. We all packed into a 12 passenger Ford van with Robert and a hired guide and headed off into the bush. We saw more Kob and a couple of other types of antelope. As we drove along I noticed a line across the dirt road which Robert had also seen. 

He told them to stop the van. We got out and he told us this was a mark where a hyena had drug an animal across the road and into the bush. The track was not obvious but was there to see for anyone who had tracked an animal before. Robert led the way and we all followed the track. About 30-40 yards into the bush we came across a large pile of intestines. In another 20-30 yards we came to the corpse of an old wart hog which Robert said the hyena had killed and drug into the bush so it didn't have to share with other animals. The photos show the corpse ripped up to some degree and rib bones which had been chewed on. After photos and some oohs and ughs we got back in the van and drove around some more. 

We saw more antelope of varying varieties and then went back to the lodge for lunch. After lunch Robert took us back down to the bush. He led us as quietly as you can lead 12 old people to an area where he thought we would see an elephant. We circled around behind the area where most of us had seen one from a distance the night before. After 15-20 minutes he gathered up about 50 yards from where we could hear an elephant and see his back side. 

We also watched the branches way up in the trees waving as he stripped them of leaves. He then gradually turned and we were able to see his front right quarter and his head and tusks. He was huge. We watched for three or four minutes until Robert led us to a viewing platform built about 20-25 feet off the ground. From there we watched as a mother elephant and a baby drank from the watering hole maybe 75 yards from us. 

All the time we were watching elephants Kob and other antelope were chasing each other in the back ground and a group of wart hogs were rooting around on the plain.

 One of the fun parts of this experience was listing to Robert and the other guide talk with their Ghanan accents. We were always looking to Alaphants and the carnivore which got the wart hog was a high – na. We love these people.

So, there are elephants in Ghana today but there is also one less wart hog.